CSR Study Guide 2026
Everything you need to pass the CSR exam in one place: the exam format, every topic to study, real practice questions with explanations, flashcards, and full-length practice tests. Free, no sign-up needed.
📋 CSR Exam Format at a Glance
📚 CSR Topics to Study (81)
✍️ Sample CSR Questions & Answers
1. A renal dietitian sets a follow-up goal with a patient, but the patient never returns for the scheduled visit. The MOST proactive response is to:
Proactive outreach to identify barriers (transportation, work schedule, cost) prevents dropout and supports patient-centered care.
2. A CKD patient's dietary recall reveals high intake of star fruit (carambola). Which neurological risk must the dietitian urgently communicate regarding this food?
Star fruit contains caramboxin, a neurotoxin normally cleared by healthy kidneys; in CKD patients it accumulates and causes intractable hiccups, seizures, and encephalopathy — even in small amounts.
3. A renal dietitian is using Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) for a dialysis patient. Which component is assessed in SGA?
SGA is a clinical tool that combines dietary history (weight changes, appetite, dietary intake changes, GI symptoms) with physical examination findings (subcutaneous fat, muscle wasting, edema) to categorize nutritional status as A (well-nourished), B (mild-moderate malnutrition), or C (severe malnutrition).
4. A peritoneal dialysis patient takes sevelamer with meals yet has persistently elevated serum phosphorus. Which assessment question should the renal dietitian ask FIRST?
Phosphate binders must be co-ingested with food to physically bind dietary phosphate in the GI tract; timing errors (taking binders before or after meals) are the most common reason for treatment failure before adherence is assumed.
5. Which serum biomarker is considered the BEST validated indicator of chronic inflammation rather than nutritional status in dialysis patients?
CRP is a direct acute-phase reactant that reliably reflects inflammatory status, whereas albumin and prealbumin are negative acute-phase reactants also affected by inflammation.
6. According to the protein balance concept, a stable HD patient with nPCR (normalized protein catabolic rate) of 0.8 g/kg/day is BEST described as:
In stable HD patients, nPCR approximates dietary protein intake. nPCR of 0.8 g/kg/day falls below the KDOQI recommendation of ≥ 1.2 g/kg/day, indicating inadequate protein intake and risk for negative nitrogen balance and PEW.